Fidel Y Raúl, MIS Hermanos. La Historia Secreta: Memorias de Juanita Castro Cont Adas a Maria Antonieta Collins.: La Historia Secreta: Memorias de Jua [Spanish]

I purchased this book for my husband so he could read about the Secret History behind the Castro Brothers that are running the Cuban Government. He told me a lot about the book, so I ending up reading the book also and thought that it was Great !!!

Juanita Castro's story is one of principle overruling ambition and personal benefit. After reading her book, I am in awe of her on so many levels. This is a woman who, at a young age, knowingly made a decision that would forever separate her from a family she cherished, from a country she loves, and leave her with nothing and no one. She chose to walk away from a life of comfort, status, and privilege to follow her conscience--all the while knowing that she would face the censure (and possible retaliation) from her family, the judgment of her countrymen, and a life of loneliness and hard work lived apart from all she had held dear. Like others, I applaud her courage in actively working to subvert a government that she, from her privileged perspective, knew to be corrupt and nefarious. All her fears and expectations in that regard came true. She couldn't change it, but she tried. I certainly admire that. But I am much more impressed by her courage in knowingly choosing the difficult and painful path and then living the subsequent decades of her life in quiet pain and unrelenting dignity. The courage that is demonstrated by a lasting commitment is much more difficult and rare than the courage shown in a single temporary noble effort. She has demonstrated both types of courage and the price she has paid over the years is evident between the lines of her story. At this point in her life, she is not angry or bitter or defeated, but she is exhausted. It has been an awful burden for one person to bear, but she has borne it. Her brother Fidel once said (quoting Hitler) that history would absolve him. Fidel and Raul chose the rewards of absolute power and personal gain where others would pay the price of their ambitions. The prospect of absolution is highly unlikely. The other siblings took whatever benefits they could get from their connections and shut their eyes and their voices, and somehow justified to themselves that they chose the easy path. But Juanita stands alone as proof that, where you least expect it--in the darkest places and the worst moments--there is a spark of sheer goodness and strength that redeems our faith in humanity. For that, (and for everything else you did): Thank you.

Es un libro fascinante, que lleva al vicio a quien lo lee, ya que cuando se comienza, no se quiere dejar ni para dormir, uno quiere saber mas y mas, dando una idea muy clara de la parte de Fidel de la cual casi nadie habla. Es muy real y sobre todo se siente muy sincero, es un libro que se merece que se lea.

Para cualquier interesado en los asuntos Cubanos en general y Fidel en particular, este libro es una obra reveladora sobre los entresijos del complejo personalidad del Comandante Fidel Castro. Para los admiradores de Fidel, el libro de Dona Juanita debe ser algo chocante dado la cantidad de libros publicado vitoreandolo. A veces, no hay nada mas doloroso que la verdad en pelota. Este libro merece cinco estrellas.

"In the end, in the eyes of God, all the glory and power in the world fit in a grain of rice. He is the one who judges, only Him." With these words, Juanita Castro Ruz concludes her captivating memoir. This is the perfect ending for a book written by a deeply religious and family loving person, not by an unbiassed outsider who would use qualifiers such as merciless tyrants, murderers, thieves, megalomaniacs etc. to describe her brothers for what they really are. Juanita's lenient representation, in my opinion is understandable. Readers expecting a Castro bashing book will be disappointed. In spite of acussing her brothers of betraying the revolution, and exposing some of Fidel's ruthlessness, Juanita refrains from using well deserved negative expressions to describe them. But there are some topics missing in the book: The author doesn't mention that Fidel Castro is among the wealthiest heads of state second only to Queen Elizabeth II with a billion dollars in foreign investments. Communism at its best! (Forbes Magazine, 2003) She doesn't reveal that his beloved brother Raul is addicted to alcohol and suffers from severe bouts of depression, for the man has a very low self esteem. She doesn't mention that Raul as a "compassionate" six-year-old, along with his brother Fidel, loved to perform appendectomies in live ducklings by mercilesslly cutting them in half. (I own the video tape in which Raul laughs at his childhood adventures.) As a Cuban exile that escaped to America in the early sixties and lived through the Castro brother's treachery, I strongly recommend an English translation for the benefit of those Americans who still believe in Santa Claus and think that what happened in Cuba cannot possible replicate in the Land of the Free. Juanita's book made me feel like I was looking at the past through a forbidden keyhole. I've read its 425 pages in one day. I just couldn't put it away. I also recommend this must-read to the many Hollywood useful idiots and T-shirts makers who have sanctified the iconoclastic figure of Che Guevara, for Juanita describes the atheist mass-murderer in vivid and honest detail. I truly believe that Ms. Castro was, and still is a dedicated and sincere patriot. Fortunately, her memoir sees the light of day as timely as a sunrise. Andrew J. Rodriguez Award winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir IN SPANISH: "Al final, en los ojos de Dios, toda la gloria y poder en el mundo caben en un grano de arroz. El es el que juzga. Solo El." Con estas palabras, Juanita Castro Ruz concluye su fascinante memoria. Es el perfecto final para un libro escrito por una persona profundamente religiosa y amante de su familia, y no por un critico imparcial que utilizaria merecidos calificativos tales como tiranos despiadados, asesinos, ladrones, megalomaniacos etc. para describir a estos hermanos por lo que verdaderamente son. La representacion de Juanita es indulgente, lo que es facil de entender. Aquellos lectores que esper